Beijing has reached a tentative agreement with Moscow on the purchase of the Typhoon-class nuclear-powered submarines, a move apparently aimed at deterring U.S. involvement in relations between China and Taiwan, the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily reported.

The $1 billion deal was endorsed by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Boris Yeltsin during a five-nation summit in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan last week, said the Hong Kong Standard, Sing Tao's English-language sister paper.

The Typhoon-class submarine is one of the largest, most modern nuclear-powered submarines and is equipped with SSN-20 ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 5,100 miles, Sing Tao added.

An official in the Russian Embassy in Beijing said he had no information on any submarine sales to China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong declined comment.

Purchasing billions of dollars worth of jets, missiles and submarines, China is a top client for Russia's ailing military industrial complex.